AI For Sustainability, The Billionaire Betting Against Coal And Tesla Facing Lower China Sales

This week’s Current Climate, which every Saturday brings you the latest news about the business of sustainability. Sign up to get it in your inbox every week.

Thanks to all you loyal readers of the Current Climate newsletter. This week, we’re starting some changes to the format in an effort to bring you some more focused news on the business of sustainability. To that end, we’re introducing some new sections to the newsletter, including one that focuses on venture funding, M&A, contracts and other deals happening in the industry. I’m also pleased to announce that my colleague, Alan Ohnsman, is joining me as a co-writer of the newsletter. Alan will be bringing news to you every week about the world of green transportation, from electric cars to the hydrogen economy. Let us know what you think about the changes, and what other types of news you might be interested in knowing about.

But without further ado, here’s your roundup of the week in sustainability…

Earlier this week, Forbes published its fourth annual AI 50 list, which recognizes the privately-held North American companies that are doing interesting – and effective – things with artificial intelligence. Several of these companies do work that directly relates to the business of sustainability, including AMP Robotics, which is building 300-pound robots that can quickly sort the millions of tons of glass, plastic and paper sent out annually to recycling plants. There’s also Aurora Solar, whose platform uses computer vision to help solar companies more rapidly design systems for their customers, which helps accelerate solar projects at lower costs. Another standout on the list is FarmWise, which has developed an autonomous vegetable weeder that lets farmers maintain their fields using fewer herbicides.

You can check out the complete list of 50 companies here.

The Big Read

The Aussie Tech Billionaire Who Bet Big Against Coal, Making Enemies At Home And Admirers In The U.S.

Atlassian co-CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes is putting his money behind an effort to make Australia’s biggest power company stop spewing carbon. Read more here.

Discoveries And Innovations

New research suggests that California can get its electric grid to 85% clean energy by 2030 without sacrificing reliability.

Global average temperatures now have a roughly fifty-fifty chance of temporarily rising above 1.5 degrees Celsius beyond pre-industrial levels within five years, according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization.

A group of engineers from MIT and the Technical University of Munich have developed a fuel cell that could use the sugar from a person’s body to power sensors and medical implants.

Researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed a biodegradable coating that gives paper bags the waterproof qualities of plastic bags without sacrificing flexibility.